The United States was long a leader in human rights, providing shelter here for refugees and standing up to abuses in other countries.

The U.S. torture program under the Bush administration made a mockery of our traditions and values.

The decision by Attorney General Eric Holder not to investigate further almost all of the CIA officers involved in the torture of detainees marks a sad day for the Obama administration and for this country.

The CIA officers’ claims of reliance on White House legal opinions that they were acting within the law arose from the fact that many CIA officers “expressed unsolicited concern about the possibility of recrimination or legal action” resulting from their participation in the interrogation mission, according to a 2004 CIA inspector general’s report.

In other words, they knew the orders to commit torture were illegal.

Our national reputation has been stained. While the Obama administration may say we can move on by ignoring the past, we are only kidding ourselves if we do this. The whole world knows what this country did.

The only way to restore our national honor is to establish an independent commission of inquiry to look honestly at our mistakes, make amends as best we can, and work to end U.S. torture forever.

Louise Specht

Berkeley

St. Joseph the Worker

Now that a few weeks have passed since the gathering at St. Joseph the Worker Church in Berkeley, it is time to catch up with what has been happening.

Unfortunately, it is more of the same, proof of which is the Diocese of Oakland’s statement as posted on their website, http://oakdiocese.org/.

I am a past member of St. Joseph the Worker and now live in Reno. However, I have followed the events online and through conversations with my daughter, who lives in the Bay Area.

I had written to the bishop with my concerns and write now as an act of solidarity with those parishioners shocked and deeply dismayed at Bishop Cordileone’s dishonest and dismissive response.

St. Joseph the Worker is a parish reflecting the diverse community in which it is located. When it was my parish, I drove in from Concord, looking forward to the warmth and true spirit of Jesus that was always present.

I am afraid that the bishop, who should be a guardian of his flock, is too busy studying church rules and regulations to take the time to be a good shepherd.

Unlike the original Good Shepherd, the bishop does not know his, but sadly, we know him.

Sunny Solomon

Reno

Shameful

Congress votes to sanction the Palestinians, again

How can the U.S. Congress vote to sanction and penalize the Palestinian people for their intention to seek U.N. recognition of the Palestinian right to a nation state with a U.N. seat.

Do not the 180 odd nations of the world have a right to consider such a decision without such flagrant U.S. interference? Do not the several million Palestinians living on Israel-occupied lands captured in war against Jordan and Syria have the right to be actual citizens of some nation?

Is this anything more than international gangsterism by our government? Our Congress shames the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence and mocks international law.

Marc Sapir

Berkeley

Fairness

This is regarding the July 6 Times editorial, “Public needs to know.”

Fortunately, for the sake of fairness to the police officers involved in the incident in the Civic Center BART station, the appropriateness of their actions will be determined by the investigations of the San Francisco police, the San Francisco District Attorney’s office, BART police, and BART administrators.

The appropriateness of their actions will not be determined by “the court of public opinion” which is, as your editorial is, automatically biased against the police when they are required to take action to protect themselves against violent criminals.

If the matter is carried on beyond the investigations, it will be dealt with in a proper court of law.

David R. Russell

Berkeley

Chipping away

One can only feel furious at the meddlers who successfully chipped away at Social Security.

One and all can only feel growing intense outrage at those, including the president, who propose further meddling with Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, public education, and the like, for dubious benefits.

Funding for Social Security was cut, supposedly for just one year … oh, sure. Backroom dealing never ends. Giving away the store goes on and on.

Those who only wish to “accumulate capital” never get enough, no matter how much misery results from their successes.

Congressional politicians, likewise, rapidly grow in wealth as the capitalists lobby and get their way. And just how much is that previous billionaire president now worth?

Cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security recipients, meanwhile, are stalled and put off, year after year, despite never-ending increases in health-care costs, food, and fuel prices.

Meanwhile, the capitalists don’t even keep their ill-gotten trillions of dollars in this country. How grossly unpatriotic!

Terry Cochrell

Berkeley

Economy worse off

Many in the mainstream media have fiercely debunked Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s charge that President Obama’s economic policies have made the country worse off. The Obama-friendly media point out that the recession technically ended in June, 2009.

But Romney can point to convincing evidence that Obama made the recovery worse. There are now 2 million fewer private sector jobs than when Obama was sworn in and the unemployment rate is 1.6 percent higher.

Currently, there are more long-term unemployed than at any time since the government started keeping records. The U.S. dollar is 12 percent weaker; the number of Americans on food stamps has climbed 37 percent; and the national debt is 40 percent higher since January 2009.

In summary, this is the worst economic recovery on record. Romney should stick to his message — because he’s right.

Gangs were likely involved in the string of arson attacks, police said, and they come amid mounting concerns in Sweden about gang-related violence. More than 40 people were shot and killed in the Nordic country last year, and the prime minister said in January that he was not ruling out a military response to gang activity.

A rooftop camera recorded the silver Ford Fiesta driving past Parliament and suddenly veering sharply to the left, striking cyclists waiting at a set of lights, then crossing the road and crashing into a barrier outside Parliament. Armed police surrounded the car within seconds, pulling a man from the vehicle. Police said the driver was alone and no weapons were...